..The aim of this observational study was to describe and evaluate the association between MRSA incidence densities (IDs) and screening and control measures in ICUs participating in the German Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System...

An evidence-based recommendation on bed head elevation for mechanically ventilated patients

..The review summarizes the results of selected outbreak reports and systematic analyses of nosocomial outbreaks from 2007 and focuses on different aspects of hospital epidemiology and infection control...

..The aim of this study was to investigate whether a prolonged operative time should be regarded as an indicator of quality problems in operating rooms or as patient-specific risk factors when analyzing surgical site infection (SSI) rates...

Reproducibility of the surveillance effect to decrease nosocomial infection rates

..While the available data do not allow a precise estimation of the number of nosocomial infections, their avoidance and the associated deaths. However, the data presented describe the size of the problem in Germany...

..To determine the percentage of cross-transmissions in an intensive care unit (ICU) with high nosocomial infection (NI) rates according to the data of the German Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System...

Establishment of a national surveillance system for alcohol-based hand rub consumption and change in consumption over 4 years

..There was a median increase in AHC of 35.9% (P < .01) in 159 hospitals that participated in the surveillance system for 4 years...

Representativeness of the surveillance data in the intensive care unit component of the German nosocomial infections surveillance system

Irina ZuschneidInstitute of Hygiene and Environmental Medicine, Charite University Medicine Berlin, and the National Reference Center for Surveillance of Nosocomial Infections, Berlin, GermanyInfect Control Hosp Epidemiol 31:934-8. 2010

..To assess the representativeness of the data in the Krankenhaus Infektions Surveillance System (KISS), which is a nosocomial infections surveillance system for intensive care units (ICUs) in Germany...

Rasmus LeistnerInstitute of Hygiene and Environmental Medicine, Charite University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany German National Reference Center for the Surveillance of Nosocomial Infections, Berlin, GermanyPLoS ONE 8:e74323. 2013

..The objective of this study was to assess factors associated with community-acquired colonization of ESBL (+) E. coli...

..The aim of this study was to determine the utilization of IMV and NIV and the associated incidence densities (IDs) of pneumonia and to compare the characteristics of pneumonia cases and the spectrum of associated pathogens...

Compliance with antiseptic hand rub use in intensive care units: the Hawthorne effect

..The aim of our study was to analyze changes in the consumption of MRSA-active antibiotics and in the burden of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) over a period of 9 years in a network of German intensive care units (ICU)...

..This new surveillance module enables ICUs to monitor the occurrence of MDR bacteria by comparing local incidence densities with a national reference and shows significant regional variation of MDR bacteria in Germany...

..64; 95% CI 0.49-0.83). As shown previously for other types of HAI, this study demonstrated that continuous surveillance and comparison with stratified reference data could reduce SSI infection rates after CD...

Incidence of healthcare-associated infections in high-risk neonates: results from the German surveillance system for very-low-birthweight infants

..1 and 0.6 according to birthweight category). HAI is frequent among VLBW and shows wide variation between neonatology departments. Preventive strategies to reduce infections in these infants should be prioritised...

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Europe: which infection control measures are taken?

..To reduce the spread of MRSA in the healthcare setting, a sufficient MRSA management is essential. In order to reflect the MRSA management across Europe, MRSA prevention policies were surveyed in ten countries...

Time-trends for Gram-negative and multidrug-resistant Gram-positive bacteria associated with nosocomial infections in German intensive care units between 2000 and 2005

..3% to 68.6%). The proportion of BSIs caused by Gram-negative bacteria declined significantly, from 36.4% to 22.7%. The frequency of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus among all S. aureus isolates increased from 19.8% to 37.2%...

[Incidence of transmission of pathogens in intensive care units. Results of the SIR 3 study]

..A systematic evaluation of nosocomial outbreaks can be a valuable tool for education of staff in the absence of an outbreak, but may be even more helpful for potentially cost-intensive decisions in the acute outbreak setting on the ward...

Reducing neonatal nosocomial bloodstream infections through participation in a national surveillance system

..Since 2008, visual feedback to the KISS ICUs has been supplied by funnel plots. These are less prone to misinterpretation than histograms and they indicate when investigation is required for increasing VAP...

..We determined the percentage of nosocomial Staphylococcus aureus infections in Germany that were accounted for by MRSA in the past six years and looked for regional differences in the overall downward trend...

Surveillance of nosocomial infections in ICUs: is postdischarge surveillance indispensable?

..To determine how many infections are missed if the postdischarge surveillance (PDS) follow-up of intensive care unit (ICU) patients that is required by the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System method is not done...

..They have not only an impact on each patient's individual health but also result in a considerable financial burden for the healthcare system. Our aim was to determine the costs and the length of stay of patients with ICU-acquired LRTI...

Impact of department volume on surgical site infections following arthroscopy, knee replacement or hip replacement

..8% versus 19.8%, respectively. It was concluded that adherence to SOPs based on evidence-based medicine that consider local resistance rates for antibiotic treatment in elderly ICU patients is associated with a lower mortality rate...

..Assessing the level of one's own infection rates is often difficult, since there have been no suitable comparative data available in Germany in the past due to the lack of a uniform method of determining these rates...

[Incidence of infection from catheter procedures for regional anesthesia: first results from the network of DGAI and BDA]

..To evaluate the draft Centers for Disease Control and Prevention definitions of nosocomial pneumonia in comparison with current CDC definitions to increase acceptance by intensive care specialists...

How many infections are caused by patient-to-patient transmission in intensive care units?

To isolate or not to isolate? Analysis of data from the German Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System regarding the placement of patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in private rooms in intensive care units